THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY

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Dmitry Babich

RIA Novosti
15:44 09/03/2010
Moscow

A resolution on the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, passed
by the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Relations, has raised a real
storm in international diplomacy.

Feverish diplomatic activity and apparent hesitations of the
U.S. administration are a clear sign that Turkey’s foreign policy
influence has grown.

The committee’s resolution is non-binding and it is not clear if it
will be placed before the whole house, but Turkey has already recalled
its ambassador to Ankara for consultations, while U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, according to The New York Times, has asked
the Congress not to take up this delicate matter now.

When, in 1915, 1.5 million Armenians “disappeared” as a result of the
action undertaken by the Young Turks’ government, Turkey and Armenia
froze all contacts with each other. It was only last year that signs
of thawing first became manifest, and in the fall of 2009 the sides
agreed to establish diplomatic relations. This was viewed as a success
for the Turkish leadership, both the prime minister and the president.

Will now a final “thaw” be postponed again?

That is not likely, although Turkish politicians are certain to take
advantage of the situation to improve their standing.

It is very likely that the current scandal will only boost the prestige
of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Not so long ago,
he was the first politician in Turkish history to challenge the
military, saying he uncovered a military plot initially scheduled
for 2003. Before that, Erdogan made out a successful case for the
Palestinians as Muslim brothers, harshly criticizing Israel for
its Gaza Strip operation. During the U.S. Iraqi campaign, Turkey
never allowed American troops to pass through its territory, forcing
Washington to invade Iraq only from the south.

Now the ambiguous position the U.S. has maintained for years on the
Armenian genocide, which helped Washington to draw Turkey into NATO,
is beginning to backfire against U.S. interests. This is a good
lesson for all, and it is not limited to the events of 1915. There
are other examples. The Western mass media are still keeping silent
about anti-Armenian violence in Baku in 1989-1990. Most reports
mention only that Soviet troops were introduced into the city.

The reason for such selective memory in American and West European
media is understandable: it is simple to place the blame on Moscow,
forgetting all about previous events. At that moment, the troops
sent by Moscow saved the lives of thousands of Armenians and other
“Russian speakers” in Baku. Even many Russian media find the subject
of the violence in Baku unpopular and almost forbidden. Some say this
could lose Russia advertising contracts and lead to conflicts with
influential people.

“I do not know what has to be done to get the mass media throughout
the world to highlight those events,” says political analyst Andronik
Migranyan, a member of Russia’s Public Chamber. “Will Armenia itself
have to carry out PR campaigns to make things change?”

The point is that the events of 1915 and those of the 1980s in Armenia
and Azerbaijan do not concern only Armenians; they concern everyone.

The anti-Armenian violence in Baku came after an inhumane expulsion
of Azerbaijanians from Nagorny Karabakh, followed by the Khodzhala
tragedy that shocked the world. People must remember everything,
because destruction of human life cannot be forgotten or remembered
selectively. Otherwise, diplomatic embarrassments like the present
U.S.-Turkish spat may become regular.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not
necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

=======================================\

Dmitry Babich




Dmitry Babich graduated from the Journalism Department of Moscow State University. From 1990-1996, he worked as a correspondent and senior parliament correspondent in Komsomolskaya Pravda, which was at the time a respected Russian daily newspaper with a circulation of up to 20 million. He the covered politics for the TV-6 television channel for three years before becoming head of the international department of the weekly newspaper Moscow News. While he was working at Moscow News, Dima won a prize from ITAR-TASS for developing Russian-Ukrainian information exchange following a series of reports from Ukraine. He joined Russia Profile as a staff writer at the beginning of 2004. ======REPONCE FROM ERGUN KIRLIKOVALI =============================== Re: “ The Armenian Genocide: A Case Of Selective Memory”, By Dmitry Babich, RIA Novosti, Moscow, 9 March 2010, (produced below for your convenience – the undersigned thanks www.TurkishForum.com.tr for bringing this anti-Turkish, anti-Azeri, andti-Muslim artcile to my atention, giving me a chance to respond.) THE BOGUS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY Dear Editor, So this is what Journalism Department of Moscow State University produces: cockeyed look at world events to promote Russian interests at all costs. Here is a writer who will shamelessly complain about selective memory while “practicing” it. Did you read any lines about Azeris killed by Armenians above? Did you see any remorse about Khodjaly exterminations of Azeris (genocide?) by Armenian thugs using Russian advisors and weapons? Any word about the mass killings of Azeris in Karabagh by Armenian soldiers and paramilitaries under the command of Russian “advisors” using Russian tanks? Azeris were killed by Armenians toting Russian Mosins in 1893 and Russian Kalashnikovs in 1993? Both under the leadership of Russian “advisors”. What has changed in the hundred years, other than the model of the murder weapon? How about Armenian aggression in the seven rayons (provinces) surrounding Karabagh? Why is he silent about that? Isn’t that pure aggression and persecution? Most dramatic of all, perhaps, is the embarrassing silence of the Russian writer (and I use the term loosely) about the million or so Azeri refugees bracing, made homeless by the Armenian thugs toting Russian rifles, bracing for the 18th scorching summer after 17th freezing winter endured in leaky tents with little food or medicine. Is this how a Russian “journalist” sees events? Through the prism of selective memory? Just like those biased promoters of a bogus genocide who will… a) remember Morgenthau’s falsified reports but not Bristol’s or Hubbard’s eyewitness reports; b) remember the long-discredited lie of 1.5 million dead Armenians, but not the Paris Peace Conference report dated 29 March 1919 declaring the number “…more than 200,000…” from which the current lie had originated; c) remember the Armenian dead (about 200,00 according to Paris Peace Conference of 1919) but not more than 524,000 Muslim, mostly Turkish dead; d) remember 24 April as the start of a fake genocide, but not the fact that 24 April was nothing more than the Ottoman Guantanamo when the known Armenian terrorists, insurgents, and spies and their suspected accomplices, were arrested for questioning, some of whom were later released; e) remember Turkish retaliations but not the Armenian revolts that started them, the biggest one of all being the Van rebellion of April 1915 which was the 9/11 of the Ottoman Empire when Armenian killed more than 40,000 of thei Muslim neighbors and turned the city over to the invading Russian armies; f) remember Dink, but not Arikan, and 70 other the Armenians killed since 1973; g) remember Armenia Tereset (temporary resettlement of 1915) but not the facts that Armenians backstabbed their own country at a time when the motherland was under brutal foreign invasion in the West (Dardanelles by the French, and Anzacs, in the East (by Russians and Armenians), in the South (by the British in Sinai, Palestine, and Mesopotamia); h) remember Armenians who were resettled because of their treasonous activities and revolts but not the Crimean Tatars (Turks) who were deported in cattle wagons to Kazakhstan, or Meshketian Turks to Uzbekiastan, or Koreans or Ukranians or Chechens or tens of millions of others to distant deserts and barren plains of Central Asia and icy regios of Siberia, who met worse tragic end, if such a thing is possible, at the hands of their brutal Russian handlers… and many more (too long to list here) i) remember to quote the Armenian commentator Andronik today but not the Armenian terrorist Andranik of last century who ruthlessly murdered many non-combatant, unarmed Muslims, mostly Turks, after torturing them in unspeakable manners; or those other Armenian terrorists like Dro, Aram, and thousands of others who were trained and supported by the Russians all along the way; Russians are the last people on earth to talk about selective memory or persecution of defenseless ethnic people. Sincerely, Ergün KIRLIKOVALI President-Elect, ATAA ergun@cox.net 9741 Irvine Center Drive Irvine, CA 92618-4324 , USA Cell: (949) 878-1186

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3 responses to “THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY”

March 11, 2010

BB

This was a good article, and I agree with you especially for the last couple of paragraphs.
I just wanted to comment on 2 things. You say after 1915 Turkey and Armenia froze the relations. I would say there was no Armenia at that time, and secondly and most importantly Turkey only froze relations with Armenia after the Karabakh incident.

Secondly, I dont find Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a great politician who stood against ISrael and supported hşs palestenian brothers. I dont buy that policy when he is doing lots of military agreements with Israel. When he was giving this speech in Davos, Israeli soldiers have been training in Turkey. I dont buy his words.. hope this would be a downer for him rather than a boost.

Thank you
March 11, 2010

Ergun KIRLIKOVALI

THE BOGUS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY

So this is what Journalism Department of Moscow State University produces: cockeyed look at world events to promote Russian interests at all costs. Here is a writer who will shamelessly complain about selective memory while “practivcing” it.

Didi you read any lines about Azeris killed by Armenians above?

Did you see any remorse about Khodjaly exterminations of Azeris (genocide?) by Armenian thugs using Russian advisors and weapons?

Any word about the mass killings of Azeris in Karabagh by Armenian soldiers and paramilitaries under the command of Russian “advisors” using Russian tanks?

Azeris were killed by Armenians toting Russian Mosins in 1893 and Russian kalashnikovs in 1993? Both under the leadership of Russian “advisors”. What has changed, other than the model of the murder weapon?

How about Armenian aggression in the seven rayons (proovinces) surrounding Karabagh? Why is he silent about that? Isn’t that pure aggression and persecution?

Most dramatic of all, perhaps, is the embarrasssing silence of the Russian writer (and I use the term loosely) about the million or so Azeri refugees bracing, made homeless by the Armenian thugs toting Russian rifles, bracing for the 18th scorching summer after 17th freezing winter endured in leaky tents with little food or medicine. Is this how a Russian “journalist” sees events? Through the prsim of selctive memory?

Just like those biased promoters of a bogus genocide who will

a) remember Morgenthau’s falsified reports but not Bristol’s or Hubbard’s eyewitness reports;

b) remember the lie of 1.5 million dead Armenians, but not the Paris Peace Conference report dated 29 March 1919 declaring the number “…more than 200,000…”;

c) remember the Armenian dead (about 200,00 according to Paris Peace Conference of 1919) but not more han 524,000 Muslim, mostly Turkish dead;

d) remember 24 April as the start of a fake genocide, but not the fact that 24 April was nothing more than the Ottoman Guantanamo when the known Armenian terrorists, insurgents, and spies and their suspected accomplices, were arresed for questioning, some of whom were laer released;

e) remember Turkish retaliations but not the Armenian revolts that started them, the biggest one of all being the Van rebellion of April 1915 which was the 9/11 of the Ottoman Empire when Armenian killed more than 40,000 of thei Muslim neighbors and turned the city over to the invading Russian armies;

f) remember Dink, but not Arikan, and 70 other the Armeians killed since 1973;

g) remember Armnia tereset (temporary resettlement) but ot the facts that Armenians backstabbed their own country at a time when the motherland was under brutal foreign invasion in the West (Dardanelles by the Brist, Frenc, and Anzacs), in the East (by Russians and Rusian Armenians), in the South (by the Brits in Sinai, Palestine, and Mesopotamia);

h) remember Armenians who were resettled because of theor treasonous activities and revolts but not the Crimean Tatars (Turks) who were deported in cattle wagons to kazakhstan, or Koreans or Ukranians or Chechens or tens of millionsof others who met the same tragic end at the hands of Russians;

… and many more (too long to list here)

Russians are the last people on earth to talk about selective memory or persecution!
March 11, 2010

mok10501

If selected memories are going to be used as a norm and if Turks are going to be responsible for their ancestors’s sins, today’s Russia is going to be wiped out of face of the earth if they bare their predecessors’, Soviet Unions’s sins. Can we start with the ethnic cleansing of the caspian basin and caucausian land or the atrocities of Stalin to the muslims in the CCCP? Oh, you may say they were the citizen of the CCCP and they were against the revolution or something else. Sound familiar isn’t it? Mr.Dmitry Babich appears to be too young to remember what was the infamous Solzhenitsyn wrote about the Soviet Gulags. You need a lot of reading to do my friend.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: A CASE OF SELECTIVE MEMORY

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